


A Sign

by kiyala



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-22
Updated: 2016-02-22
Packaged: 2018-05-22 15:32:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6085089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiyala/pseuds/kiyala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yahaba takes great pride in the sign art he does for the board that goes outside their café. He's putting it out one morning when he bumps into Kyoutani.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Sign

The chalkboard sign at the front of the café is a work of art and Yahaba takes pride in it. He likes starting his days this way, crouched in front of the blank sign with pieces of chalk sitting on the floor beside him. He likes the freedom that the blank board gives him, the potential for anything he wants to draw on it.

The Seijou Café has a plant theme, and his most commonly used pieces of chalk are the green ones, used to make a decorative border around the edge of the sign. He draws different plants, looking them up beforehand and picking the most distinctively shaped flowers or leaves. The logo for their café is a simple leaf beside the words _Seijou Café_ in stylised writing. He writes the specials of the day, with a witty message at the bottom, then puts it out just by the door.

Kunimi, who has finished wiping the tables down and putting the chairs out, leans against the counter with his arms folded across his chest as he watches. He looks unimpressed, but then again, Yahaba's pretty sure that Kunimi is unimpressed by everything in the entire world.

"Aren't you putting a little too much effort into that?" he asks. "I mean, most people are just going to walk past, anyway. What are you, a secret artist or something?"

"Hopefully it's not much of a _secret_ , what with the fact that I've been drawing these signs for months," Yahaba replies. "Besides, isn't it just nice to have something pleasant on the eyes? It's relaxing, anyway. It's not like it's a big deal."

"Seriously," Kunimi huffs, turning to Kindaichi, who walks in with a tray of fresh muffins to put into their display cabinet. "Can you believe this guy? He draws something like that, and says it's not a big deal."

"You're amazing, Yahaba," Kindaichi says very seriously as he looks at the sign. "I love the signs you make every day." 

"Yeah, yeah," Yahaba replies, trying to hide just how pleased he is. He carries the sign to the door, taking down the _CLOSED_ sign and unlocking the door so he can pull them open. 

He bumps shoulders with someone standing just outside the door. Yahaba puts the sign down, steadying himself against it, then looks up, a little irritated that anyone would be standing that close to the doors already. It's ridiculously early in the morning and there aren't a lot of people out at this hour anyway. There's plenty of space that isn't right in front of Yahaba. 

The guy is wearing a hoodie and a deep frown, standing there with his hands in his pockets. His hair is fascinating, in a slightly horrifying way, bleached blond with two dark stripes shaved around the circumference of his head. Yahaba wonders if it was a choice, an accident, or a dare. 

"Good morning," he says, instead of the countless other things that spring to mind, because he's meant to be _polite_ to customers. 

"Yeah," the guy replies, looking at the sign without saying anything else.

It feels a little awkward, so Yahaba just turns around and goes back inside. Kunimi and Kindaichi are both behind the counter, watching with obvious curiosity. Yahaba rolls his eyes at both of them, going out the back to wash the chalk off his hands and put his uniform apron on before coming back out.

The guy's still standing outside, staring at the sign. Yahaba's beginning to wonder if that's all he's going to do, and whether they'll need to ask him to leave, when he finally looks up and starts walking inside. 

"You drew that sign," the guy says to Yahaba, stopping right in front of the counter. 

"Yeah I did," Yahaba replies with a nod. "Are you going to get anything, or are you just here to talk about sign art?"

With a quiet snort, the guy pulls his wallet out of his pocket. "I'll get your special, then. The mint mocha." 

"Name?" Yahaba asks, picking up a cup and writing the order on the side of it with a sharpie. 

"Really?" the guy asks, deliberately glancing around the store. "There's no one else here. I'm pretty sure I'll know which order's mine." 

Yahaba looks down at the cup in his hands, very tempted to just draw a dick. Instead, he draws two parallel lines, like the ones shaved into the guy's head, and takes the notes being held out at him. 

He doesn't make conversation as he moves over to the coffee machine. Kunimi and Kindaichi have retreated out to the back, clearly not wanting to get caught up in whatever this is. Yahaba doesn't particularly want to be caught up in it either, but he can feel the guy staring at him, and he's not about to back down. 

"Here," Yahaba says, when he puts the coffee down on the counter. "Mint mocha." 

With a grunt, the guy takes his coffee, holding it up as a lazy salute, then leaves. 

"Who was that?" Kindaichi asks, his head sticking out from the back room.

"I don't know. I've never seen him before." Yahaba folds his arms across his chest. "Honestly, I hope I never do again."

Of course, the guy's back the next morning. This time, Yahaba only sees him a few minutes after they've already opened, and he's standing there in front of the sign again, frowning down at it. Yahaba wonders if he ever does anything but frown. 

"Vanilla latte," he recites from the specials board, handing his money over. He glances over at the three businesswomen who walk into the store behind him, then back at Yahaba. "I'm Kyoutani." 

"Oh, so you _do_ have a name," Yahaba says cheerfully. "Who knew? I'm—"

"Yahaba," Kyoutani finishes for him, nodding towards his name tag. "Yeah, I can read." 

"The surprises just don't stop coming, do they?" Yahaba smiles. 

"Rude," Kyoutani mutters. 

"I'm not rude, I'm _lovely_ ," Yahaba replies. "Just ask my customers." 

It's true. He's lovely to the three ladies behind Kyoutani, greeting them all by name, not needing to ask for any of their orders because he already knows them all off by heart. He's good with his regulars. He's good with most customers, regardless of how often they come to the café. He's just not good with Kyoutani, and that's because Kyoutani is _weird_. He sets Yahaba on edge, and it's not a nice feeling. Even with him standing to the side, looking down at his phone as he waits for his coffee to be made, he's impossible for Yahaba to ignore. He hates the feeling of it. 

Unfortunately, no matter how much Yahaba wishes for it, Kyoutani doesn't stop coming to the store. He keeps asking for the specials, which is annoying because Yahaba prefers it when he can memorise his customers' orders. It makes Kyoutani predictable, but not in the way that Yahaba likes. Knowing someone's coffee order is like knowing something about them as a person. Perhaps it isn't a very significant thing, but it's still a piece of who someone is. Yahaba can't pin Kyoutani's tastes down, can't tell whether he likes things bitter or sweet, can't tell if he likes syrups or not. He doesn't even know if Kyoutani _likes_ the coffee that Yahaba makes, and that's probably one of the most annoying things of all. 

It drives him to ask, one morning when it's just the two of them in the café. Watari's rostered on with Yahaba, but he's running late, and there aren't any other customers around just yet. 

"Do you actually like any of this coffee?" Yahaba asks, as he scrawls down Kyoutani's order on the side of a coffee cup. "You never ask for the same thing twice." 

Kyoutani just shrugs. "I don't know. I don't _drink_ it." 

Yahaba stares at him. "What?" 

Kyoutani shrugs again. "One of the guys I work with complains that there's no good coffee near where we are. I walk past here on my way to work, so. I get coffee. I'm not here for the coffee."

"It's the signs, isn't it?" Yahaba asks. He can't believe it. If he's actually succeeded in drawing someone into the café based on his sign art alone, he's going to gloat about it to Kunimi _forever_. 

"It's you," Kyoutani replies, rubbing the back of his neck. "I mean, I saw you putting that sign out the first time and. Look, forget it. It's the sign." 

Yahaba doesn't even know how to respond for a moment, but then he sighs. "Okay. What kind of coffee do _you_ like?" 

"Don't like coffee," Kyoutani grunts. 

"Tea?" Yahaba asks, frustrated when Kyoutani shakes his head. "Damn it, I'm trying to look for an excuse to write my number on a cup for you, here. You could at least play your part in this scenario properly. I don't want your coworker thinking I'm giving him my number instead." 

Kyoutani blinks at him with surprise, grinning as he digs his phone out and unlocks it, placing it on the counter. "You could just put it in here, you know."

This isn't how Yahaba wanted this scenario to go at all, the few times he's caught himself daydreaming about it. It figures that Kyoutani would be difficult. 

He picks Kyoutani's phone up and enters his number anyway. He can do difficult. He's going to have _fun_ with this, he can tell already.


End file.
